


The Alligator's Name Isn't Brutus

by sp4rklefish



Category: Fortnite (Video Game)
Genre: Florida!Brutus, M/M, a very self indulgent fic, brutus is a wildlife educator, idk yet, infact this might be an au where they aren't agents, no proofread, not sorry, pre agency brutus, pre agency skye, skye is a wildlife educator, slightly OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:28:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sp4rklefish/pseuds/sp4rklefish
Summary: Midas is visiting a nature preserve in Florida while he has some time off from a Mission. He makes eye contact with a man who has a dangerous job.
Relationships: Brutus/Midas (Fortnite)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	1. Midas Meets Brutus

"Alright folks! That was my favorite animal here at the preserve. Now we are going to have Florida's most known animal. THE Alligator!!" Midas let the educator's words fade. He had heard this presentation a couple of times. He focused on the alligator trainer. While the gator was sleek, the trainer was definitely muscled. He'd seen this trainer last time. Though he was farther in the back. As the trainer worked the gator through the routine he couldn't help. When the trainer gave commands, Midas took a few seconds each time to appreciate the trainer's body. He had the gator turn. He looked out to the crowd, gave a mischievous smile and stuck his head inside the gators open mouth. Gasps from the audience. Midas leaned until he almost slid off his seat. The trainer looked out to the audience while the speaker said something. The trailer's sunglasses slid a bit. Their eyes met. Cliche as it is. For a few seconds, Midas couldn't hear the crowd or the speaker. All that he could focus on was the beautiful face looking at him from a toothy maw. 

A harsh word. He didn't quite catch it. Maybe it was Brutus. He darted his eyes to the speaker. Her face was full of concern. The trainer pulled his head out. And the jaws snapped down. If the trainer had hair it would have been stuck in the jaws. Forced laughter from the speaker. Midas got the feel that the trainer was a lot closer to death then the speaker was letting on. Was it because he was looking at him? Oh God. He nearly killed a man with his looks. He felt terrible and a bit proud. Only a tiny bit. He wanted to make sure the trainer was okay.

After the show the speaker was on one side with their favorite bird. On the other side of the stage the trainer had a baby alligator. He wasn’t sure how to ask or what to say. Tentatively he asked the trainer, “Is Brutus okay? I know alligators are tough but he had his mouth open for a long time.” The trainer looked puzzled for a second. “Brutus is okay. But I’m not really into talking in third person.” He smiled at Midas. As a proud person that came into money fairly early in life, he had never felt embarrassed. This was all of life’s embarrassments coming to him in a single second. His mouth fell open and he felt like he was melting into the ground. He had said this dumb thing to a nice looking person. They knew he was dumb now. He had to leave. And never come back. That was it. No more pleasant strolls at the preserve. The trainer whose name was Brutus continued with a smile, “The alligator is Shirley. She’s a sweetie. I gave her extra treats when I put her back in her enclosure. That's nice of you to worry about her.” Was Brutus chuckling at him. “Clearly you are upset about thinking the alligator's name was Brutus. Why don’t you make it up to me by buying me a drink later?” Midas’s jaw couldn’t fall any further. Brutus gave him his phone number as he had a baby gator in his hands. “I get off work at 6:00pm. Pizza for dinner okay?” He started to back towards the staff only entrance. Midas nodded. Completely at a loss for words.

______

As soon as Brutus came back from handling the baby gator for the public Skye went off on him. “BRUTUS! What was that stunt!?! I know you feel comfortable with Shirley but god damn man. One drop of sweat falling in the wrong place and you could have been dead. What happened? Why did you do that for so long??”

“A certain pair of eyes held me like no could.” Brutus replied. Skye rolled her eyes. Brutus was a flirt and though he was quiet in front of many people, he had a flair for the dramatic. “In but a fluttering second i could tell my life has changed.” He didn’t generally like to go on poetic rants but he knew they made Skye laugh. 

“Your life could have vastly changed in a second if Shirley bit down on you!” Skye was not going to let him forget this anytime soon. Which, fair. He did something extremely stupid and he could have died from it. Other alligator handlers had died from similar stunts. While they cleaned up and got ready for a lunch break they talked shop. At lunch Brutus got a few texts. Skye stopped her story. When Brutus looked over at her she was clearly trying to hide her grin. “So,uh, who you texting there buddy?”

He smiled. “Oh. Just a nice pair of fine eyes.” Her smile was suddenly ear to ear. “Noooo. You didn’t!?!” Brutus nodded while he ate. “Coincidentally, i have a date tonight. You are on your own for dinner tonight.” He tried to act like it was no big deal. But Brutus was so excited and appreciated his coworker and roomie’s enthusiasm.


	2. Yes it's dangerous

***

“When you caught my eye….” Midas glanced at Brutus’s eyes. The sunglasses were pushed up on his head. It wasn’t the color of his eyes that grabbed his attention. It was the intensity that they gave off. “...uh right. When I saw you put your head in uh Shirley’s mouth, I was a bit shocked. I didn’t think that was safe after the last guy here died from doing that.” Midas clamped his mouth shut. That was stupid. Way to go Midas. Bring up the death of a probable coworker on a first date. Go you. That was great going. Midas tensed. This was going horribly. he might as well get the check and leave.

“Oh. yeah. It is dangerous.” Brutus shrugged. Trying to ease his own nerves of how utterly stupid his earlier stunt was. “Alligator mouths are actually pretty interesting! Did you know!...” Talking about wildlife, alligators specifically was easy for him. He could talk forever about wildlife, habitats, eating schedules. And he did. If Midas wasn’t actually interested he was damn good at pretending. 

After awhile Midas exclaimed “Wait! You could have gotten seriously hurt!? Just because you were looking at me!? I could have actually killed you!?” He was joking before that his beauty could kill. But holy smokes. He thought there was safety like a stick or something in the jaw so it wouldn't snap down on the educators head. Brutus looked down and shrugged. He said quietly “worth it for some time with you.” He darted a glance to Midas. His eyes looked pretty like they were flecked with gold. But overall he was a gorgeous guy. And god damn was Brutus a sucker for pretty people. Midas’s mouth was slightly open, a small gasp and a fierce blush washed over his pale face. Brutus smiled and leaned back in his chair. This….hook up, friendship, friends with benefits, whatever this was going to be. It was going to be fun. 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The world is on fire. So have a little chapter as a treat.


	3. Not What He Expected

The cold was coming up and the wildlife preserve was starting to cut down hours and staff. Winter wasn’t a very touristy season and always let contracts expire for a few months before rehiring educators. Brutus was fidgety. He had kept pushing off looking for a new contract. He knew that Midas would be a summer lover. Typically he worked somewhere else for non-summer but usually came back for summer contracts. Brutus drummed his fingers on the kitchen counter. 

Skye yelled out to him “For the love of the water!! Please stop drumming your fingers. I’m trying to fill out applications. And its distracting!!” She had set up her laptop on the coffee table in the living room. Typically they sat and did applications together. Helping each other with emails and cover letters and such. Brutus flopped on the couch. “Hey” he said softly, “ if you could work at one place instead of constantly looking for new contracts….would you take it?” he stared at the tv screen, just zoning out. 

She looked back at him and sighed. “I mean the financial stability would be great. And having the ability to have pets again would be nice.” she shrugged. “Sure. as long as you visit me. I’ve gotten too used to summers together.” Brutus nodded. “I’m thinking of finding a place around here to be year round. You know, cause of alligators. Does Florida work for you?” They chatted off and on about the hypothetical of staying in Florida year round. Maybe he would bring up this plan to Midas next week when he was in town.

__

Seeing Midas always brought a smile to Brutus’s face. The day was pleasantly spent going to fun places to eat and today Brutus brought Midas to an axe throwing range. After dinner they headed to Midas’s hotel room. Brutus was thinking of what they were going to be doing tonight and not so much of anything else. He was thrown for a loop when Midas asked seemingly out of nowhere “We don’t have to go to the hotel every time. You said you have an apartment. You could bring me over some time. I see glimpses of it on video calls but. I'm interested in what your place looks like.” Brutus felt a little shameful. “I have a roommate. I don't want to bother her or make her uncomfortable. She might feel weird with me having um...friends over.” Skye knew about them. But Brutus was scared that the two wouldn’t get along. Midas was definitely more serious and had a dry sense of humor. And Skye was very in your face and said anything that came to her mind. He was also kind of embarrassed to bring home his fuckbuddy. Midas looked thoughtful, maybe sulky. Brutus added “Maybe next time we can all get ice cream!” 

Midas looked down and didn’t smile. They entered the room and he sat on the edge of the bed. Whatever Brutus was imagining they were going to do this evening was immediately put on hold. He called gently to Midas “Babe. Whats up?” Midas looked away then up to Brutus’s eyes. He had pushed up his sunglasses as the sun had gone down. He could see the golden flecks in his eyes shimmer with emotion. Midas’s voice was low, “I found out that this is the last summer that I will be coming out here. I’m being promoted to manage a private island. I really want this position but…” Midas turned away again. His voice had gone hoarse. Brutus had been sitting delicately on the other corner of the bed. Leaned over to hug Midas. He gently laid them down. They cuddled as Midas got his breathing even. He gently caressed his shoulders down to his hips. He gently coaxed Midas to tell him about the job, the island that he was going to manage. Brutus knew. They both knew that this fuck buddy arrangement was going to end at some point. It still hurt to know it would be so soon. They had one month left. When Midas seemed to be breathing evenly Brutus spoke in a low voice “If you want to do this job, go for it.” He hugged Midas tight. “You get that job you’ve been after. I’ll follow you.” He was glad he was the big spoon so Midas couldn’t see him blush. They hadn’t said anything embarrassing like I love you or anything meaningful to each other yet. And that felt like a confession. Midas didn’t say anything. So he went on “This place sounds really big. An island that has a farm, mountain ranges, a power plant and an island in the middle of it!? Sounds like there might be room for me too.” Midas wriggled a bit to turn around to face Brutus. Their faces right next to each other. “But your gig here! The alligators! Sheila!” Midas exclaimed. Brutus shrugged “She's a big girl. She can live without me. Besides, my contract is coming to an end with the summer, so Really you would be doing me a favor.” He smiled down at his beloved friend. “And perhaps since we are both going to be there, we could try doing something more frequent then what we have been doing.” Brutus tried not to show on his face how incredibly dumb and sappy that sounded. Midas broke into a dazzling smile. The rest of the evening wasn’t what Brutus had imagined the night to be like. It was gentler, softer somehow and perhaps more fulfilling.

**Author's Note:**

> there was a tumblr post about making eye contact with someone who has a dangerous job. and naturally. i thought of Brutus and Midas.  
> i also just wanted to draw Brutus in a floral button shirt fishing. and bam. story.  
> Hope yall enjoyed!


End file.
